Full programme announced for International Business Festival

WITH just a little under month until doors opens, the full programme for the 2018 International Business Festival has been announced – with Liverpool FC Chief Executive Peter Moore, designer Wayne Hemingway and anti-Brexit campaigner Gina Miller among those confirmed as speakers.

Other names featuring in the Festival line-up include Cherie Blair, and wife of former Prime Minister, BBC Business Editor Simon Jack and outspoken CEO of Cobra Beer Lord Karan Bilimoria. Subjects which will be explored at the event include hiring and retaining skilled employees, how driverless vehicles will revolutionise business and how companies can go for growth outside the European Union.

The 2018 Festival will run for nine days, over three weeks making it the largest event of its kind anywhere in the world. Between Festival and its partner events 27,000 attendees are expected at the Exhibition Centre Liverpool from 12-28 June, including more than 100 delegations from major international markets including India, China and the United States.

Collectively the previous two editions of the Business Festival have helped companies secure more than half a billion pounds of new trade and investment, and injected more than £3m into the Liverpool visitor economy.

Festival attendees will not only get the chance to hear from industry experts but also to visit the Festival’s ‘Knowledge Hub’ to access practical advice and guidance designed to help their business grow. These sessions will be run by leading Festival partners including HSBC, who will be running workshops on exporting to China, and British Airways, who will be hosting sessions on making the most of business travel budgets.

Max Steinberg, Chair of the International Business Festival said: “We’re really proud to be able to announce today our full programme line-up for the 2018 Business Festival. It’s the perfect combination of well-known names and industry leaders of the future.

“Every one of our nine days is focused on an industry set to power the economy over the next ten to twenty years. Many of these sectors – including life sciences, manufacturing and creative – are ones where the Liverpool City Region is already a national and global leader.

“We’re expecting the world to come to Liverpool next month, to see what we have to offer and how we do business. It’s an incredible opportunity for businesses from Liverpool and the city region to connect with their next buyer or investor – from the UK or overseas. As one local entrepreneur said to me, ‘the Festival is a chance to be in a place filled with potential new clients.’ The question is, can you afford not to be there?”